The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-10-02

US ID an admirable specimen Oh AW0ElcRn DOOk.
making. The text should have been made
worthy Of the sumptuous embellishments The
materials were there; but the cunning hand
was lacking. II. W. II.
Priaee Alexander Of Bulsaris.
A trustworthy account Of what occurred
in Bulgaria during the eventful period between
1879 and 1885 would be certainly Of much util-
ity to those who appreciate the intimate rela-
lions Of that principally to the European SIT
uetion. whose point Of tension since. as well as
for come years before. the Berlin Congress must
be recognized In the Balkan peninsula. In
Prince Alexander Of Batenbero, BY A. Koch
London. Whitaker & CO.. we have q con-
tribution to recent history which. according to
the title page. purports to be derived from au-
thentic sources and which. in part, embodies
the recollections Of man who was for the Pc
Rod In question court chaplain to the Prince.
We are inclined to think. after q scru-
tiny Of the internal evidence. that the
book may DO relied upon. when the author
records the testimony Of his eyes and ears, but
his prejudice against the Russians Is 80 pro-
nounced that his deductions and his second
hand reports can only be accepted with ex-
trems circumspsction. With this caution we
proceed to give some idea Of the contents Of
the volume BY showing what the writerlhas to
say about some interesting incidents Of which
he was an eyewitness. These incidents are
the revolutionary incorporation Of Eastern
Roumelia with Bulgaria which took place In
September. 1885, tho Servo-Bulgarian war
which presently followed. and the abduction.
return. and sbdieation Of Prince Alexander in
the succeeding year.
According to this witness Prince Alexander
r.(l, Hor L.. Too<
Roumelia. He was, indeed. warned Of its sp-
proach. but tried to convince the delegates
Of the insurrectionary committee that the time
was Ill chosen" They went away persuaded
that he was right, but before they could reach
homo tho rising had been successful and the
Prince, then In Varns, had to deal with ao-
complished facts. He autographed for counsel.
IT. seems. to This Primo Minister. Karaveloff.
whose advice was that the Prince should
Internationally identity himself with the
popular movement Accordingly. on Sept.
"a, 1885, four days after tho outbreak in
Philippopolis. Prince Alexander. who by this
time had arrived at Tirnovo, published proc.
lamation recognising the union and taking
over the Government Of East Roumelia. At
tho same timeihe gave orders for the mobiliza-
ton of the Bulgarian army. for. besides the ex-
pected attempt Of Turkey to assert It's author
ity over the revolted province, the atti-
tude Of Servia was already menacinG.
Unluckily. the next day, Sept as. came
an order from the Gear that all Rus
sian officers must retire from the Bulgarian
army-an order which was expected to cripple
the resources Of the new principally. put an
end to the nascent revolution, and compel the
sbdication Of the Prince. But the posts left
vacant in the army were Immediately filed
with young Bulgarians. whose capabilities, as
the event proved. had been accurately gagged.
while others Of corresponding aptitudes were
transferred to the East Roumelian forces.
which. BY this means, could be raised to thirty
two battalions. It 10 certainly noteworthy
fact that within nifty days after the situation
became critical Prince Alexander had at
his disposal an army Of $4,000 men. the
majority OF whom were well clothed and
armed. although neither Officers nor soldiers
could obtain any salary. In the estimation Of
Europe these resources were needed. for on
Nov. IA came Servia's declaration of war. and
It was universally believed that King Milan
was decidedly an overmatch for his antagonist.
But tho impartial position assumed BY Turkey
enabled Prince Alexander to draw his entire
army By forced marches to the Servian frontier.
and to make Slivinitza his fortified headquar-
ters. The author Of this book does not follow
the brilliant course OF Bulgarian victory from
sliyinitzs to PROT but he affirms, what seems
to be generally admitted, that during the
whole war Prince Alexander was always at the
point of greatest danger. He shared more
over, hunger and cold with the men, and
slept like them upon the ground. He
gave himself the greatest possible trouble
to organize o commissariat which until
then had not existed. so that his soldiers. in
spite of excessive fighting, received adequate
food every day. and. In contrast to the Servian
army. always had spare ammunition" Chap
lain Koch adds that when cessation of hos
tilities YVES requested, the already routed
servians had only 1--WE cartridges per man. and
no chance OF obtaining fresh ammunition
nearer than Nisoh. 90 that they were on the
brink Of O fearful catastrophe. while the
Prince, on tho same day, had still 100000 re-
served cartridges In hand" It 10 indispensa-
BILE to keep In Wow these facts (which We have
never seen disputed) In order to understand
the pride and affection with which the army